the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Secretaries

Transcription

1 the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Secretaries In honour of Dr Stephen Covey

2 Habit 1. Preparation

3 Habit 2. Record Management

4 Habit 3. Punctuality

5 Habit 4. Church and UCA knowledge

6 Habit. Attention to detale

7 Habit. Attention to detale who picked up the spelling mistake? And that the number 5 was missing?

8 Habit 6. IT literacy

9 Habit 7. Discretion

10 the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Secretaries 1. Preparation 2. Record Management 3. Punctionality 4. Church Knowledge 5. Attention to detail 6. IT Literacy 7. Discretion

11 Governance and Administration Constitution 22 The powers and responsibilities of government and administration in the Church shall be vested in the Congregation, the Presbytery, the Synod and the Assembly, each of which shall be constituted and have rights, powers and responsibilities hereinafter provided. The primary expression of the corporate life of the Church shall be the Congregation.

12 Governance and Administration Is there a difference between Governance and Administration/Operations? Are they Related?

13 What is a Church Council Reg : Responsibilities of the Church Council a) The Church Council shall give priority in its life to building up the Congregation in faith and love, sustaining members in hope, and leading the Congregation to a fuller participation in Christ s mission in the world. This priority shall be reflected in the agenda of its ordinary meetings Emphasis Added

14 Critical Governance Documents Membership Rolls: Baptised, Confirmed*, Members in Association* and Adherent*. (* Continually reviewed). Reg. 1.6 & 3.1.2biii Baptismal & Marriage Records Annual General Meetings Employment records and compliance checks

15 Critical Relationships With Chair Construction of the Agenda with focus on Governing towards Vision With Members Successful presentation Congregational Leaders for Excellence for the Annual General Meetings

16 Break 10 minutes?

17 Preparing for a Meeting Constructing an Agenda with Chair (and possibly Minister/Operational Leader) Key items such as Devotion, Prayer, Business Arising, Correspondence and Reports Assessing the time to allocate to each item Ensuring accountability mutual and missional Determining any IT or other requirements to enhance the meeting s efficiency Data projector / Microphone in a large meeting Modelling the agenda so that it will end on time

18 Preparing for a Meeting Distribution of Papers In advance In PDF ideally one file All consistently presented. Templates can be useful in enabling measure against vision and strategy Consider a cloud solution like Dropbox Single source of truth

19 Examples of Agendas DISCUSSION Burwood-Croydon Related Congregations Sydney Presbytery Similar Key Points? What is missing for your contexts? Construct a Draft Agenda Agenda reflects focus/vision of the church. What is Next

20 During the Meeting Recording Decisions Points that support the decision Clear and precise wording, accurate & factual Don t write a descriptive story of events write in a fashion that is briefly informative.

21 During the Meeting Sample Motions Motion: The current church library be converted into a new Godly Play room. By consensus. Chair of Property to bring budget. Motion: The current church library be converted into a new Godly Play room. By agreement. Chair of Property to bring budget. Motion: The current church library be converted into a new Godly Play room. By formal majority. Chair of Property to bring budget.

22 Choice of wording Motion and Proposal for most organisations, this is interchangeable. Resolution Greater level of complexity and often effects ethos and is reflective of the direction of the whole. It is more definitive and based on assumptions. It is more formal (usually written down ahead of time). In the Church, it often is later directed to another body.

23 During the Meeting Monitoring time This is of great assistance to the Chair Being conscious of others. We remain missionally focused and pastorally responsive

24 Post the Meeting Circulation of the Minutes Disseminating information timely Again consider cloud storage options Follow- up Actions Monitoring follow-up actions Sample Minutes

25 Sample Minutes What items from the minutes could help your minute taking? What would you change? NOTE: These are what one Council uses. Every year, assess how minutes are being drawn up so to improve what information is being captured and how work is enabled.

26 Record Management Establish an Indexing System for Meeting Minutes / Records Action items Decision points Assures consistency & saves time when researching

27 Record Keeping Filing - electronic and hardcopy Back-up : at least 2 one off site Use of Church Archives - UME

28 A meeting consists of a group of people who have little to say until after the meeting. P.K. Shaw

29 Questions?

30 Conclusion If you are unclear or struggling with any part of today s presentations ask.if you have additional ideas about how to make these workshops better, (secretary@sydneypresbytery.org.au) or speak to the presenter. You are all an important part of the Church. It is not a difficult role, but it is vital and a role that you must stay on top of. Have fun and God bless you